Table 1 Characteristics of the included studies

Shin et al. [29]

Prospective comparative study, II

48 patients who underwent arthroscopic repair of articular-sided PT-RCTs between March 2006 and July 2008 were included

24 transtendon repair

24 repair after completion of the tear

VAS score; ASES score; Constant score; Range of Motion; Patient satisfaction; MRI features

Franceschi et al. [10]

Prospective comparative study, II

60 patients who underwent arthroscopic repair of articular-sided PT-RCTs from 2007 to 2009

32 transtendon repair

28 repair after completion of the tear

ASES score; Constant score; Range of Motion; MRI features

Kim et al. [19]

Prospective comparative study, II

92 cases between January 2008 and March 2011 with articular-sided PT-RCTs exceeding 50% of tendon thickness

47 in Situ Repair

45 Tear Completion Repair

VAS score; ASES score; Constant score; MRI features

Castagna et al. [2]

Prospective comparative study, II

74 patients between 2006 and 2009 underwent an arthroscopic rotator cuff repair of articular-sided PT-RCTs

37 transtendon repair

37 repair after completion of the tear

VAS score; Constant score;

Liu et al. [22]

Retrospective comparative study, II

68 patients between December 2014 and June 2015 underwent rotator cuff repair

30 transtendon repair

38 repair after completion of the tear

VAS score; ASES score;

Castricini et al. [5]

Retrospective comparative study, II

151 patients (153 shoulders) who underwent rotator cuff repair between January 2003 to December 2014

59 transtendon repair

94 repair after completion of the tear

Constant score; simple shoulder test (SST); Tendon integrity (Ultrasound); Patient satisfaction